Tom Barbitta

Tom Barbitta, VP of marketing for this old-time North Carolina-based maker of cherry flavored soda, attributes these numbers to a new marketing approach.

“This brand has been around for 92 years in a land of giants,†he said.

The new strategy is based on the idea that “small is becoming the new big,†he said. He sees an authenticity in the brand based on its age and regional popularity that plays well with 18 to 24 year-olds.

“You can’t market at these people. They have a BS meter,†Barbitta said.

Barbitta believes, that young people’s corporate cynicism has turned them away from the large multinational soda companies like Coke and Pepsi, in favor of Cheerwine.

It&39s now starting to appear on shelves," said Tom Barbitta, vice president of marketing for the Salisbury, NC-based company. "We&39re thrilled we&39re going to ...http://www.ajc.com/news/content/living/stories/2008/06/10/cheerwine atlanta.html?imw=Y

"The targeted direct mail program will bring Microban® antimicrobial product protection to the forefront for decision makers in the foodservice industry," says Tom Barbitta, Senior Vice President of Marketing, of CoyneBeahmShouse.
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For more information, please contact Tom Barbitta at (336) 605-7255 or tbarbitta@coynebeahmshouse.com.

"The best way to build your brand is to begin with those who love it," says Tom Barbitta, senior VP at CoyneBeahmShouse.
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"We discovered that the core Doral enthusiast is down to earth, with heartland values, very patriotic, with a predisposition to loyalty," says Barbitta.

-Tom BarbittaSenior Vice President of Marketing

It's now starting to appear on shelves," said Tom Barbitta, vice president of marketing for the Salisbury, N.C.-based company.
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Barbitta, who's a New Yorker but sounds pleasant enough nonetheless, says the nectar of the Old North State is being stocked in metro Atlanta Wal-mart, Kroger, Publix, Ingles, and Food Lion stores, with plans to roll out in smaller convenience stores next. Cheerwine is available in 20 states, including California but mostly east of the Mississippi, Barbitta said.

Tom Barbitta, the company's vice president for marketing, is a Yankee himself. A New York one, in fact, who had no access to the drink until he took a job with Nabisco in North Carolina in 1987.

"Cheerwine is a brand you have to discover," Tom says. "People are seeking brands like this to call their own. It appeals to a mindset. People may be drinking less soda these days, but they're drinking better soda."

A veteran of the Miller Brewing Company, Lipton Tea and the Oberto beef jerky company, Tom says he's never seen a product that elicits as much fan mail as Cheerwine.

He gets four or five e-mails from consumers a day and two or three a week from soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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"And when the commander went to get his Cheerwine out of his 12-pack, thinking the cans were all full, they were already emptied," Tom says.

In May, the company held a Cheerwine birthday party in Salisbury, described by Tom as a "Norman Rockwell town. Over 3,500 people attended, from as far away as Jacksonville, Florida, Pittsburgh, and Norfolk.

Tom says L.D. Peeler, the creator of Cheerwine, got together with a salesman from St. Louis who sold him a wild cherry flavor, which became the basis of Cheerwine in 1917.
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I asked Tom about foods that pair well with Cheerwine, and he pointed out that the beverage complements all styles of North Carolina barbecue, from the coast to the Piedmont.

Food Lion, also headquartered in Salisbury, sells a Cheerwine sherbet, and Tom says Carolina Beverage has just developed a partnership with the H.B. Hunter Company in Norfolk to create Cheerwine Soft Serve Sensations, a non-dairy, fat-free product that will be hitting the shelves this spring and summer.
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"Imagine how Cheerwine has survived the ups and downs of economic swings, mergers, buyouts and closeouts," Tom says.

"The best way to build your brand is to begin with those who love it," says Tom Barbitta, senior VP at CoyneBeahmShouse.

Step 2: The Lovefest.
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"We discovered that the core Doral enthusiast is down to earth, with heartland values, very patriotic, with a predisposition to loyalty," says Barbitta.
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"By rubbing shoulders with our consumers," says Barbitta, "we were able to cultivate this relationship and turn it into a driver for the brand."
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"Any time you can develop emotional relevance for a brand, you can insulate the brand," says Tom Barbitta.
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"I don't know of many convenience store chains that have mined the demographics of the communities around them, to really understand who their customers are and what they want or need from them as a convenience store brand," says Tom Barbitta, senior VP at CoyneBeahmShouse.